Arizona weekly citizen., 1887-06-04
MUSIC FOR CHURCHES.
THE STAGE Ross THE CHURCH
 CHOIR OF THE BEST VOICES.
The orsSing Demands Of Church ooers- The Secret Of the Prsssns Dsarth sf Good yOiees-sopranes and Tsnors Be- ocming Scarce.

s~@NN%-
 The churches in New York are trying to sotve tns problem how and where the muxic TOT looi IS 10 be obtained There is money enough to pay for cultivated voices, but tne trouble is that trained voices are not in the market. As in times past the church going public demanded that they should have preacher of celebrity and power, SO now they demand that cultivated voices shall Dc furnishsd for the choir Although there h development of the craving for chorus ehoirs and for double quArtets, nothing short of a well balanced, competent choir that can interpret the most difficult selections will satisfy the average church goer. In fact, the character of the music rendered by church choir to-day is of as much importance and great . drawing card e the man who occupies the pulpit. Con sequently the church music committees are having very industrious hunt for good voices.
 Cultivated soprano and tenor voices are in great demand, and 1t seems that ths vocal ists of New York arc looking for salaries sa we'll a fame It h estimated that the saia- ries paid for church music in this city, d. though ranging from t100 to 6, 900 per year aggregate without doubt many times the pastoral salaries It has long been the cothplaint of thoss engaged in church choir work that they were by no means sui teisntiy rscompsnssd for the time and sbl fly involved, but % long ss volunteers and able recruits could be had almost for the -Eiing their plaints and criticisms were unhssdsd-
 FOUND BITTER MARKET
 "I do not think the secret of the present dsarth of good voices s that singers have determined to be paid for their work or not ing," said c vsu-known wielder of the ohoristsr baton the othsr day. 'Its rather that they have found . much better market for thsir vol<ss. Since the introduction of 'PisAfore' Into this country the church eholrs have sesn ransaeked and depleted to the end of furnishing leading and chorus voices for the multitude sf comic operas that have % quickly and successfully fol- lowed Gilbert and Sullivan's tunsful history of Ralph RAckstrav. Whs,s q good nnger once lent the best endeavors b0 obtaining 6 position in . church choir, to-day the rule is to seek out some manager In anticipation of securing an engagement on the stage. Even those persons who hAvs not succeeded in finding Euch an sngAgsmsnt sstn refuse church work because they hope soon to ss- eure the long coveted place on the operatio or theatrical stage. In brief, the church has been robbed by the stage for the past fvs ysars.
 Mot only arc our own city churches fn need of good voices, because a1 this grsdua- ton to the stage, but bscauss out of town churches, finding ft difficult to secure com petent voices, hsvs invaded New York, and by making liberal offers have carried away some of our best tlngers. rhsrs are plenty of singers to bs sure, but thsrs Is scarcity of available voices of the reQutEits cultiva- tion for church service. Though the main difficulty sss1as to bs in obtaining sopranos and tsnors, tho defciency 1 really not con fined to COG elas of vocAltses. Altos and bas. voices can bs had, bos they must be literally paid for. call ts mind now an instance where one church in this city will pay q newly engaged alto msrs than double tho salary given to her predecessor. While many nss and baritone v6ios arc in the market so to speak, the rich, desp, well rounded eazs k to be obtained only with much difficulty. Singsrs possessing voices have DO cultivation, and thcss whose voices show culture are lacking in the dssired tim Der. It s . fact that In order to retain the valuable eomponents of thar choirs many of the churches will hsvs to increase the salaries next year more than ever before. As look back can call sp mind several well known companies on the road that represent many of ths best voices that have been heard in church choira "-New York Mail and EIpre~-